


Blood, Shadow, Silver

by Erdariel



Category: Robin of Sherwood (TV 1984)
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, How Do I Tag, Minor Original Character(s), Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Post-Season/Series 03, Tags May Change, Tying Up One Of The Loose Threads Left By Canon
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-10-16
Updated: 2019-10-31
Packaged: 2020-12-20 17:27:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 7,080
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21060422
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Erdariel/pseuds/Erdariel
Summary: Villages of Nottinghamshire are being destroyed, but no one knows who is behind it all or where the faceless enemy will attack next. The outlaws learn that their enemy is one they have faced before – but the wicked baron de Belleme has only grown more powerful since the last time. If they intend to defeat him, the outlaws will need all their skill, and even that may not be enough.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> This is set after s3 ends but before The Knights of the Apocalypse. Marion hasn't rejoined the gang yet, and while I can't 100% foretell everything that's gonna happen here (because lol what is planning?), this story probably isn't going to feature her. Okay, to be fair, the only reason I'm setting this before she rejoined the outlaws is because juggling even six major characters is hard, seven is even harder, and this way I at least have an excuse for not including one of them.

Autumn was upon Sherwood, and winter would soon follow it. Already on clear days the grass was covered in frost in the mornings, and even on cloudy days the wind was chilly. The outlaws were preparing for coming winter in their own way, and helping the villages of Nottinghamshire do the same. Usually this was a time of the year when they robbed rich travellers less frequently, and even ceased bothering the Sheriff’s men in favour of spending more time getting and storing supplies for winter. 

Then the rumours of attacks on villages all over the shire started spreading. And then, the outlaws began coming across half-destroyed villages more and more often. People killed or badly wounded, fields trampled, livestock slaughtered, storage sheds and houses set on fire. In the best cases it would take a year or two for the village to compensate for the material losses. In the worst cases it would be half a lifetime or more. In any case, dead people couldn’t be brought back, nor the pain and grief undone.

“It’s the Sheriff that’s sending ‘em. Gotta be”, said Will Scarlet one evening after another day spent trying to help the victims of yet another attack.

“It’s not the Sheriff”, Robin replied.

“And how’d you know that, huh? You ‘aven’t seen the attackers”, Will insisted.

“Neither have you”, Robin snapped back. “How many _thousand_ times do I have to explain this to you? It can’t be him. As terrible as he is, this isn’t something he would do.”

He jumped up and began pacing back and forth on the opposite side of the campfire from Will. The helpless anger he felt showed clearly on his face.

“Everything the Sheriff does, he does because he’ll get something out of it. This? There’s nothing he could gain from it. Nothing. He can, and he has, wiped out villages before, but only one at a time, few and far between, to frighten others into submission. One village here and there doesn’t yet affect his life much. But when half of the villages of the shire are destroyed at once, that’s going to hurt him. There’s so much taxes lost he can’t make up for it. There’s food that won’t come to his table because of what the attackers have destroyed. And what does he gain from it? One village destroyed, even two, are going to keep people silent for the fear that they’ll be next. Ten villages is going to make people revolt. It just can’t be the Sheriff’s doing”, Robin explained.

“I talked to Edward of Wickham today, and he said he’d seen Gisbourne and his men ride through Wickham yesterday, and heard him shouting at the men because the Sheriff wanted the attackers caught and they hadn’t managed it once. Robin’s right. It can’t be the Sheriff”, Tuck said.

“No matter if it’s him or not, we still don’t know when and where the next attack’s gonna be”, John said.

Robin sighed and nodded. “That’s the biggest problem. I just keep thinking that if I knew who it was who’s behind all this, maybe I could do something. But no one knows who it could be, not even if it’s some lord’s men or a band of outlaws. Some people say the attackers wear no livery, others that their clothes are all black and cut like livery but no devices, and yet others that there is some devices, but they contradict each other in what device and colour they are, so no clues there either."

“Can’t be a band of outlaws, there’s too many of ‘em”, Will pointed out.

“Fear makes some folk see double the enemies, Will. I mean, doesn’t sound like outlaws’ doing to me, what’d they gain from destroying the villages anymore than the Sheriff would, but just ‘cause people say there was fifty enemies doesn’t mean there really was that many”, John replied.

“Most outlaws don’t keep that big areas, do they?” Much said. “Even us, we got just Sherwood, we don’t come out of here a lot unless we’re, you know, sent somewhere. These attacks, they’ve been all over the shire, rumour says even outside it. No outlaws could work in places so far from each other, right?”

“I know, it doesn’t sound like outlaws to me either, but I have to consider that an option unless something proves for sure it’s not outlaws”, Robin said.

He sighed again, still pacing back and forth. No one spoke for a while. The sound of Robin’s footsteps and the high metallic scrape of stone against steel as Nasir sharpened his daggers only made the absence of spoken words seem heavier, more oppressive. The wind rustled the leaves still hanging on to trees. The clouds hung low; it would probably rain during the night. Robin looked at his friends, each deep in his own thoughts, and he realized that they were all waiting for the axe to fall. He was, too. He knew that if things didn’t change, sooner or later they’d arrive to Wickham to find it in ruins, Edward perhaps wounded or dead trying to protect his family, and Meg – God, if anything happened to Meg, John would never stop blaming himself for it. It’d break him.

Finally Robin stopped and sat down near the fire, between John and Much. He stared grimly at the flames.

"What I don’t understand”, he said slowly, more thinking aloud than really speaking to any of the others, “is how no one ever sees the attackers while they’re on move. They could as well appear out of thin air just outside the villages, for all anyone knows. No one seems to have seen them on the road, and I don’t understand how they manage that. It shouldn’t be possible.”

“Maybe it is not possible in... ordinary ways”, Nasir suggested.

Robin stared at Nasir. The saracen had until now been so silent that Robin had nearly forgotten he was there at all. But what he had just said made all too much sense. 

“You think there’s sorcery involved?” Robin asked.

Nasir shrugged. “You think there is no way for them to travel unseen. No one sees them travelling. Is there other ways to do the same?”

Robin nodded and got to his feet. He went to the cave they were using as shelter, and took Albion and put it on his belt. He picked up his bow and quiver and slung the bow over his shoulder.

“I’ll go see Herne. I may take a while to return”, he announced as he came out of the cave and headed into the dark forest outside their camp.

Robin found Herne’s cave on the first try, and found Herne there. He was sitting by the fire, seemingly in a half-trance. Robin had a feeling that Herne had wanted him to come. Often it was much harder to find the cave in the first place, and sometimes Herne just wasn’t in there when Robin came looking for him. To find him here so easily meant he had wanted to be found.

“Why have you come?” Herne asked.

Robin came to the fire and sat down opposite him. He looked Herne in the eyes.

“I have come for the villages destroyed, for the people killed, for those crying out my name as all they have is taken from them. I am to do your bidding, and you have set me to protect the helpless, to aid the poor and oppressed people of this land. But how can I do it, when I do not know who my enemy is or where he will strike next?” He asked.

Herne was quiet for so long that Robin wondered if he was going to answer at all. As the silence grew longer, he studied Herne’s face, and he noticed that he had changed. The changes were small and subtle, hard to notice, but Robin was still alarmed to see them. In all the time he had known Herne, he didn’t recall seeing any kind of change in him. Now Herne seemed weary, frail, older. The blue eyes staring at him over the fire still held the same vague feeling of ancient and endless knowledge seldom revealed to mortals, but otherwise he looked different.

“Do not fear. I am not going to leave you. But I have been fighting a battle of spirits with the same enemy you would challenge with sword and bow, and it is tiring. He has underestimated me before; he will not make the same mistake this time”, Herne said, almost as if he'd sensed Robin's worry.

“Before? This enemy is someone I know?”

“You have not faced him, but he was one of the most dangerous enemies Robin of Loxley knew. It will take all your strength, courage and wisdom to beat him.”

Herne rose and went to another part of the cave. He returned soon, carrying a beautifully carved wooden box. He handed it to Robin, who opened it. Inside was an arrow of shining silver, decorated with etched and carved symbols.

“What is this?” Robin asked.

“It is the silver arrow, and it holds great power. Your enemy seeks it, but he must not have it. Take it! While you have it it will keep you safe, but he would use it for evil, and with it his power would grow too great to fight”, Herne told him.

“Wouldn’t it be safer with you? If he must not have it, then what’s the point of me taking it away from here?”

“I told you; to protect you. You cannot resist an attack of sorcery without aid, just as I am too old to fight with weapons of war. Yet if you are to defeat your enemy, you must weather attacks of both witchcraft and ordinary weapons.”

“But who is my enemy? How do I defeat him, when I do not know who he is or where he will strike next?” Robin asked.

“He is a servant of a dark master. Tomorrow your enemy will strike where you most fear he will. Be ready for him!”

Robin realized that was all the advice he would get, so he nodded and didn’t ask any more questions. He put the silver arrow in his quiver. It was shorter than a real arrow, so it would be hidden enough there. Then he rose and left the cave.

It was still dark outside, but Robin guessed that if the sky had been clear, it would start getting lighter not long after he reached the camp. It was cloudy now, so it would take much longer to notice, but still. It seemed he wouldn’t get much sleep that night. 

The walk back seemed far longer than the same distance had seemed when he’d been going to Herne. It was very dark, and the only reason he didn’t get lost was that he knew this part of the forest like the back of his hand. It was very cold, and the slightly damp wind didn’t help. He started regretting that he hadn’t taken a cloak with him when he’d left the camp.

Finally he got back. Nasir was keeping watch; huddled in his dark grey cloak, he was all but invisible until he moved out of the shadow to quietly greet Robin. Robin gave him a quick smile and a nod and went into the cave, and Nasir disappeared back into shadows. Robin went to his spot near the back of the cave, wrapped his cloak around himself and curled up on the sheep fleeces he had as a bed. It didn't take him long to fall asleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments are welcome, including constructive criticism and pointing out mistakes in grammar/writing!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Wickham is attacked, and the outlaws discover just who they are up against this time

Robin was woken up by someone taking his cloak away. He muttered something very impolite and opened his eyes. Will stood beside him, deliberately holding his cloak out of his reach.

“Give it back”, he said. “It’s too damn cold here.”

“I’ll give it when you get up.” Will grinned. “Unless you wanna go back to sleep and eat your breakfast cold, of course.”

Robin responded with some more impolite muttering. He stood up, tried to comb his hair with his fingers, and snatched his cloak back. He came out of the cave and sat down as close to the fire as he could. Tuck offered him a slice of bread and some cooked meat. He took it, muttered something that sounded like “thank you” and began devouring the bread.

“So what did Herne tell you?” Tuck asked when Robin had finished eating.

“I have no idea what to make of half of what he said. Why does he have to speak with bloody mysteries all the time?” Robin sighed. “At least he confirmed it’s magic we’re dealing with. And he gave me the silver arrow.”

“The silver arrow?” Much asked.

“Been a while since we last saw it”, Will stated.

“Why did he give it to you now?” John wondered.

“Go ask him. He was as vague about it as about everything else”, Robin answered bitterly.

“So we still don’t know who the enemy is?” Will asked.

“No. Only that he’s a sorcerer. And… hold on, there was something more…” Robin paused. He frowned, fidgeting with a strand of hair. “Oh Hell! I think that it’s Wickham next. _Today_.”

That sent them all moving. Robin didn’t have to give any orders; they all knew they had to go to Wickham. They put out the campfire, gathered their weapons, and were on their way before an hour had passed.

Edward of Wickham knew something was wrong when he saw the outlaws coming to the forest. They all looked serious, and each of them was armed.

“Hello, Edward”, Robin said quietly. “Where can we talk?”

“My house. Alison and Matthew will be there, but I can tell him to go out, and she’ll want to hear anyway”, Edward said. 

Soon the outlaws, together with Edward and his wife Alison, were gathered in Edward’s house. Edward and Alison had, of course, heard the rumours of destroyed villages. They believed Robin without question when he told that Wickham would be next.

“When the attack comes”, Robin said, “let us take the brunt of it. I’ll be honest: I don’t think we six will be enough to stop the whole attack, but you’re no warriors, and I don’t want you to have to take on them before they’ve worn themselves out a bit on us.”

“Do you think we can stop them with your help?” Edward asked.

“I don’t know”, Robin said after a moment of thought. “It depends on how many there are. Twenty or thirty attackers, probably. Forty, maybe, if we’re very, _very_ lucky. More than that, not likely. They probably won’t be expecting resistance; that’ll make it a bit easier. And then there’s the question of how determined they are to go through with the attack, that’ll make a difference, too…”

“Hey, didn’t you say yesterday that the Sheriff’s likely not happy about these attacks either?” Will put in.

“I did. What does it matter now?” Robin asked.

“I was thinking, won’t that mean that if ‘e could, ‘e’d send Gisbourne and a troop of soldiers to defend Wickham? If the moment the attack came, someone would run to Nottingham to plead for ‘is help, the soldiers might get here in time to help”, Will said.

“And we’d only have to hold them off long enough for that.” Robin smiled. “That’s brilliant, Will! We’ll just need someone who’s fast…”

“I’ll go”, Alison said. “I’m fast, and I can easily act frightened and hysterical enough to convince him.”

Robin nodded. “Good. Much, I want you to gather up the children, and everyone else who’s not fighting. Hide them in the forest, far enough to be safe but close enough that you’ll know when the battle has ended. John, does Meg have a bow, and can she use it? If she can, see that she has arrows and tell her to go with Much. Nasir, you and I will hide just off the road a little before Wickham. We’ll take them first, then retreat back here. The rest of you, and all the villagers who want to fight, will wait here in the village. Use your bows as long as you can, don’t go to close combat until you have to”, he ordered. “Questions? In that case, shouldn’t we start preparing?”

They had barely gotten everything in order before the attack came. Robin and Nasir had only just settled in their hiding place. Robin was arranging Albion’s sheath so that it wouldn’t get on the way and wasn’t caught in bushes. He looked away for a moment. When he looked up again, there was a troop of soldiers filling the road only a hundred yards away. The road that he could have sworn had been empty only a moment before. He touched Nasir’s shoulder lightly and pointed at them.

Acting almost as one, he and Nasir both reached for their quivers, nocked arrows, and sent them to fly. Both arrows found their mark, and were followed soon by two more. Robin saw with satisfaction that the soldiers halted briefly, and as he and Nasir shot a few more arrows, they fell back. He noticed that the soldiers were wearing black tabards with golden, circular devices on them. They were so far still that he couldn’t tell exactly what the device was, but even that narrowed the amount of their possible masters down.

Soon, sooner than Robin would have liked, the men arranged their ranks again. Now they lifted their shields up against the arrows. It wasn’t going to stop Robin or Nasir, they had too sharp eyes and too good aims, but it did slow them. Maybe a dozen men altogether met their ends by Robin’s and Nasir’s arrows before Robin judged it time for them to retreat.

Alison had been waiting at the other end of the village, by the road to Nottingham. When she saw Robin and Nasir come from the forest, she ran off without a single glance back. 

Robin and Nasir came back to the village. Robin saw many of the people of Wickham, armed with bows or slings, waiting for the enemy. He saw fear in their eyes, but there was also grim determination on their faces. Robin knew they would not run, not until all was lost.

Then the soldiers came within an arrow-range, and a rain of arrows flew up and fell on them. It was followed by another. Still, the soldiers advanced, not caring of their comrades falling dead to the ground all around them. Robin wondered why they would put up with such losses. Were they driven by sorcery, possessed? Did they simply not care what their victory would cost? Or were they so afraid of their master, whoever that master was, that any amount of losses would be better than returning to report a failure? 

The arrows fell upon the enemy, and Robin suddenly realized how impossibly many soldiers there were. Their arrows had already taken out a good twenty of the men, in addition to the dozen or so he and Nasir had killed earlier. Despite that, there were enough soldiers that Robin knew they would never stand a chance unless the soldiers of Nottingham came in time.

Soon the enemies were too close for arrows. Robin dropped his bow – it was a shame to have it broken, but it would only get in the way in the fight if he tried to hold onto it – and drew Albion. He saw Nasir throw one of his daggers before drawing his swords. Nasir, he noticed, was staring at the enemy with a strange expression on his face. Robert would have called it fear, but he knew Nasir was not afraid of anything, not even hopeless fights such as this. Besides, Nasir knew just as well as Robert did that it wasn’t hopeless. Help was coming, even if it was from people he hated, and they only had to keep the enemy at bay until then. 

But he didn’t have time to think about it. The enemies charged at them, and Robin found himself fighting against three at once. They forced him to take an almost entirely defensive role, but whenever there was opening for an attack, he took it, fighting viciously until one of the soldiers was dead. Then another soldier took the dead man’s place, and even without looking Robin knew that everyone else had it just as bad. There was no one who could help him.

He fought on, killed when he could, but mostly just tried to keep himself alive. Slowly the amount of soldiers seemed to decrease. Too slowly to do any good. Robin smelled smoke, although he didn’t see which building had been lit. Somewhere in the back of his mind he started thinking their plan was going to fail. He feared that by encouraging the villagers to fight, he had doomed more of them than would have died otherwise. He was starting to get tired, the sword felt heavy in his hand and he couldn’t bring it up fast enough to block all the strikes. He almost tripped more than once, and the only reason he didn’t lose his balance even once was that he knew that if he fell, he’d be dead.

Robin couldn’t tell how long he had been fighting when he finally heard the sound of horses approaching the village. Not long after, he heard a very familiar voice shouting commands. It belonged to sir Guy of Gisbourne, and though he was Robin’s half-brother, Robin had never thought he would be glad to hear his voice.

Gisbourne had four mounted soldiers, and twenty more on foot. They were easily enough to turn the tide of the battle, especially when the outlaws and villagers had already killed many of the enemies. One by one, in the midst of the chaos that ensued when the soldiers of Nottingham joined the battle, the outlaws slipped away and into the forest. The villagers of Wickham disengaged from the battle as well. They were no soldiers, they had only been fighting because they had had to, so they were only happy to leave the fight to someone else.

Robin had been where the enemies were thickest and the fighting was worst, so he was the last of the outlaws to get away. It took ages, but finally he managed to shake off those he was fighting with. He ran into the forest, ran until he could no longer see the village. Then he began making his way towards the place where Much had gone with the children. The others had probably headed there too.

His guess was right. When he got to the small clearing, he saw his friends there, sitting close to each other, all of them tired but alive. Will saw him, and greeted him with a wave and a tired grin. Robin grinned back. He went to them and sat down next to John.

“You in one piece?” John asked.

“Yeah”, Robin replied. “I think so, at least. I’ll need a new bow, though. You?”

“Same here. Bit of cuts and bruises, but nothing I’ll die of. Will’s the same, and Tuck, and Nasir. Seems almost a miracle, with how long Gisbourne took to arrive.”

“He took his time to come”, Robin agreed. “I was beginning to think we’d all die.”

Robin laid down on the grass and closed his eyes. The ground was cold and not exactly comfortable, but he was so tired he didn’t care. He wasn’t quite asleep, but he wasn’t really awake either.

After a while he heard footsteps leaving the clearing. A few moments later he heard them return.

“The battle’s over, but the soldiers are still there. I’ll go with the children now, but the rest of you ought to wait a little longer before you come”, Robin heard Meg say.

“Okay. You go now, Meg. We’ll come to check on you and help you out a bit soon as they're gone”, John replied. 

It took maybe half an hour for the soldiers to leave. Once they were on their way back to Nottingham, Edward sent Matthew to get the outlaws.

Most of the villagers who had taken part in the fighting weren’t hurt much worse than the outlaws. Edward had quite a wound in his left arm, one that was sure to leave a scar, but even it was likely to heal. The buildings hadn’t suffered terribly either. The only thing to have been completely destroyed was a barn where feed for the animals had been stored for winter. 

“It’s a shame that went”, Edward said. “But I suppose we can arrange with some other village nearby to take the animals that we absolutely will need to keep alive over the winter. And what we can’t get someone else to look after, we’ll just put to slaughter.”

Robin nodded and made a sound of vague agreement. He stared into the pint of beer Edward had insisted on offering, but didn’t drink. None of them talked much, they were all too exhausted by the battle to really celebrate their victory, but Robin had been even quieter than the others.

“You gonna drink that, Robin? ‘Cause if you’re not, you should give it to someone who will”, Will said.

“What?” Robin shook his head as if to clear it and glanced first at Will, and then back to his beer. “Oh. Right. You can have it. I don’t care.”

He pushed the pint a little away, then sunk back to his own thoughts. Will’s grin faded. The others looked at Robin too. John shook Robin’s shoulder lightly to get his attention.

“Are you _sure_ that you’re alright?” he asked.

“Mmh. Just tired. And trying to think. I’m sure I’ve seen the coat-of-arms the soldiers had before. Must be one of the ones father taught me. He tried to make me remember the coats-of-arms of half the noblemen of whole bloody England _and_ Scotland.” An amused smile rose to Robin’s lips for a moment. “I’ve just forgotten most of them. Including that one those soldiers had. Snakes or ropes of some kind, wrapped around a scepter… I _know_ I’ve seen it before. If only I could remember whose it was…”

John looked at all of the other outlaws in turn. Will shrugged. Nasir gave him a barely noticeable nod. He drew a long breath before speaking again.

“Actually, we know who it is”, John said slowly. “We weren’t going to bring it up until later, once we were back in Sherwood, but I guess we might as well tell you about it now. Does the name de Belleme ring any bells?”

“De Belleme? Yes, that’s him. A baron, wasn’t he?” Robert paused for a moment. “Oh damn. Now I remember why father wanted me to memorize that name and coat-of-arms! His description of de Belleme wasn’t exactly flattering.”

“Well, neither is the man”, John stated. “Where do you want me to start?”

“At the beginning, I suppose”, Robin answered.

Edward lingered nearby, unsure of whether to stay to hear the story or to leave and give the outlaws room to discuss what was clearly their problem and not his. Finally he decided there was something he was supposed to be doing and left.

“At the beginning? That’s a little tricky”, John said. "For me, I suppose the beginning was a day long ago, when I crossed paths with de Belleme and his bodyguards passing through Hathersage. Or maybe a year or so later, when I woke up to Robin of Loxley scrubbing a bloody pentagram off my chest on a riverbank in Sherwood.”

Will grinned, but his voice was serious. “I would say it started with Robin and Much being thrown to the dungeon in Nottingham castle. Think I gave ‘em bit of a fright, appearing out of the dark there.”

“Nah. It started the following day, when Gisbourne killed my parents and burnt down the mill”, Much said quietly. “It was revenge that drove Robin to all of it. Wouldn’t have been so eager to be Herne’s Son if it hadn’t gone that way.”

“To me and Marion, the beginning was when de Belleme rode to Nottingham castle and demanded the Sheriff and Abbot Hugo to let him marry Marion”, Tuck told.

Nasir remained quiet, and seemed very interested in inspecting his dagger’s blade. Robin took the hint and didn’t ask for his tale.

“Right. Who wants to tell me the rest?”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments of all kinds welcome! 
> 
> Yes, I know that Robin of Loxley was chosen by Herne before Much's parents were murdered, but I still think the anger over their death and how unjust it was is a fairly major driving force for him in that story.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry, writing this took a little longer than the previous chapters. In my defense, I wrote the previous chapters during the school autumn break, and this after the break ended. Besides, this was a harder chapter for me to write, being a sort of transitional one to get characters where I need them for the next chapters instead of just straight action. 
> 
> Oh and by the way, the distance from Sherwood to Belleme's castle came with me basically just choosing a random place on the coast (since it looked in Robin Hood and the Sorcerer like it was on the coast) not too far away from Sherwood. I wanted some more or less fixed place so I'd know how long going there takes instead of having the characters travel at the speed of plot (well, they kinda do anyway, but a little less than in the show at least).

“So, we know that de Belleme is the one sending the soldiers. We know where his castle is. We have some idea of what he can do. And we can’t allow him to keep destroying villages, so we have to stop him as soon as we can”, Robin summed as they arrived back to their camp. “What do we do next?”

“All I know is if we try just marching into ‘is castle, ‘e’s just gonna kill us all”, Will said.

Robin nodded. “I fear you’re right. If only there was so simple a solution, but there isn’t.”

“The castle’s on a small cape. When the tide’s low, they’ll see you coming before you get within the range of any bow. When the tide’s high, you can only approach it from the side of the forest-road, and circle ‘round the walls till you get to the side where the gate is, and they’ve seen you doin’ that long before you ever get to the gate. Both times we’ve gone there, Belleme was doing something else, plus the second time he didn’t have soldiers since he’d just come back from the dead”, John told. “We ain’t gonna get so lucky a third time.”

“What if we went there by night? It would be easier to move unseen then”, Robin suggested.

The rest of the outlaws gave him a look that said “are you crazy?” Will was the one to put it into words.

“‘ave you lost your bloody mind? Did you listen to anything we just told you? That man’s a bloody devil-worshipping sorcerer, and you’re saying we go to his castle by night? Who in their right mind would do that?”

“I would”, Nasir said quietly.

“Well, you’re crazy too and that’s no news to anyone”, Will shot back.

“He is no worse by night than he is by day”, Nasir persisted.

Will opened his mouth to argue, but Nasir gave him a look that was capable of shutting even him down. There was something in the look that suggested absolute certainty that Nasir knew what he was talking about, and something else suggesting that if Will felt the need to keep going, the argument could be solved with sharp steel. And there was no question of who would win if it came to that.

“Fine, I take that back, we’re not going there by night. Does anyone have a better idea?” Robin asked.

He was met with blank looks. For how eager Will was to point out faults in the plans, he didn’t seem to have a lot of alternative ideas.

Robin sighed. He was tired and hungry, and he knew that everyone else was, too. Besides, even though his wounds weren’t bad, they still stinged, and that didn’t improve his mood either.

“Maybe we should just eat something and go to sleep and continue planning tomorrow”, he finally said. “We’re all too irritable right now; nothing will come of planning but arguing, and stupid arguments won’t get us anywhere.”

The following day began in similar mood as the previous day had ended. Will was frustratingly good at coming up with reasons why any given plan wouldn’t work (not that anyone would come up with any truly genius plans either). Robin couldn’t tell why Will was acting like that. Will was hardly an optimist in the best of times, that was true, but mostly he didn’t feel the need to so strongly refuse any and every possible plan. Besides, it was clear he wanted to bring Belleme down too. So why would he not accept any plan? Much hadn’t spoken a single word since Will had rejected his idea. He’d been shy to suggest anything in the first place, but Will had shut him up completely. Tuck was spending more time trying to calm John and Will down and stop them from tearing each other’s throats out than making up plans. Nasir hadn’t said anything, just sat there with a thoughtful look on his face, but then, no one had really expected him to talk. Although John and Will were usually best friends, John had been going out of his way to spite Will after Will had shot down his ideas a few times too many. 

Robin was beginning to get very, very frustrated with his friends. He wished briefly that Marion would still be with them. She probably wouldn’t have been able to give them a foolproof plan, but at least Will might have listened to her if she’d told him to shut his mouth. 

Slowly but surely the conversation turned from planning to a fight between Will and John. A fight that had less and less to do with situation at hand. Robin wondered how his predecessor had dealt with the two. It was lucky that John didn’t usually stay mad for long unless he had a good reason to, and that the two were close friends. Otherwise it would have been impossible to have two so hot-blooded people in the same group.

Sometime a little before midday Robin finally told Will and John that if they didn’t stop fighting right that moment, he’d drive them to the forest to continue their fight. They both glared at him and at each other, and made quite a show of ignoring each other, but at least they were quiet. Besides, it wouldn’t last long. They’d act like friends again before the day was over.

Once Robin had broken up the fight, they all decided to leave the planning for a while, since they clearly weren’t getting anywhere with it. John said he was going to Wickham to see Meg. Tuck got needles and thread and began repairing some of his clothes and teaching Much to do the same. Will began fletching arrows. Nasir left to hunt food.

Robin went to the back of the cave, and got himself one of the staves they stored in the cave for the inevitable event that one of them would break his bow. It would take some work to make it into a bow still, but at least he didn’t have to cut down a tree first.

The midday came and went and afternoon passed quietly, with each of them concentrated on their own tasks. Sometime in the late afternoon Nasir returned with two pheasants and a hare, and Tuck began preparing them for cooking. John turned up soon afterwards. As Robin had predicted, he and Will didn’t look even mildly annoyed, let alone angry, with each other anymore.

Robin considered attempting to make plans against de Belleme again, but dismissed the idea. If all that came of it was arguments, he didn’t really want to even try. He knew they would have to return to it sooner or later, but he wasn’t eager to try again yet.

As it turned out, he wasn’t the one to bring it up again. A little before dinner Nasir spoke more than two words for the first time in the whole day.

“I am going to the castle Belleme”, he said. “To look for weaknesses. Secret entrances. Anything… useful.”

“No the ‘ell you won’t!” Will objected immediately.

Nasir glared at him, but he didn’t notice. Tuck sighed and made a face as if to say “here we go again”. 

“Good God, Will, what are we supposed to do then?” Robin demanded. “If no plan’s good enough for you, then give us something better! Nasir’s plan didn’t even involve you at all yet, so what’s the matter?”

“I don’t ‘ave a plan. I just got a feeling like any of yours is gonna get us killed.” Will muttered.

“Would you rather sit here and watch as every village is burned to the ground and everyone we’ve fought for dies? I don’t know about you, but I can’t stand by and watch it happen because doing something might get us killed. It has always been dangerous, in case you hadn’t noticed”, Robin retorted. He spoke again before Will could reply, in a tone just strict enough to make obvious that he wasn’t going to listen to any more objections. “Nasir, you’re free to go. John said the journey to Castle de Belleme is three and a half days or a little less on foot. Week to travelling in total. If you take longer than a week and three days to return, I am going to assume you have been captured and bewitched by Belleme and treat you as an enemy unless you can prove you are not. Do you understand?”

Nasir nodded. “I leave tomorrow at dawn.”

With that, it was settled. No one else was going to question Nasir’s plan. They were all worried something was going to go wrong, but as Robin had pointed out, trying and failing to do something was better than not doing anything. Will stood up and headed off to the forest to sulk. No one stopped him; they all knew he would return once his feelings had cooled off a bit.

The following morning they woke up to find Nasir gone. It had been Much's turn on the morning watch, and he said Nasir had left at the first hint of light, at least an hour or two ago.

“Will still hasn’t returned”, Robin observed, a little worried.

“He’ll come back, eventually”, John reassured him. “Just give him time.”

“It’s not his loyalty I doubt. What if something’s happened?”

“To Will?” John laughed. “Never. He can look after himself.”

“You’re right. I don’t know why I’m so worried.” Robin smiled and shook his head a little.

They ate breakfast and went on about their day, and it was almost as if nothing was out of ordinary at all, except that Will and Nasir were gone. Well, things were normal until midday at least.

Around midday, Matthew, son of Edward of Wickham, came running to their camp. That was unusual enough in itself. All of them dropped their tasks and gathered around him immediately.

“Hi, Matthew. What happened?” Robin asked. 

“Father sent me. There’s a man in the village, asking for you, Robin. A stranger”, Matthew told.

“Did he say his name? Is he threatening your father? Why does he want me?” 

“Didn’t look like he was doin’ anything bad. Father didn’t look scared like he does when he’s speaking with the Sheriff or Gisburne”, Matthew said. “And he said his name was Nicholas. And… I heard him talking with father, before father sent me to get you, and he called you Robert.”

“Was he brown-haired, a little shorter than me, square face, old scar going from underneath his left ear down to the chin like this?” Robin described, tracing his finger to show where he meant the scar to be.

Matthew nodded. Robin sighed, and glanced at the others. He hid it well, but there was a hint of worried frown on his face when he turned back to Matthew.

“I know him. Sounds like trouble, but not trouble of his causing. Let’s go”, Robin said.

He stood up and headed towards Wickham with quick, long strides without waiting for response. Others followed him, Matthew running to keep up with them.

It wasn’t hard to spot the man, because he was standing with Edward in the middle of the village. Robin guessed it was Edward’s doing, so that the outlaws could see him before even entering the village and know if he meant danger. When Robin saw him, he knew he’d been right about who it was.

The man spotted Robin as he entered the village, and waved his hand in greeting. Robin grinned and returned the gesture.

“Hello, Edward. Thanks for being cautious, but it’s alright, I know him”, Robin said to Edward. 

He turned to the stranger, but before he could say a word, the stranger caught him in a bear hug. Robin drew away quickly, but he was still smiling.

“Hello, Nicholas”, Robin said. “It’s been a while.”

“A while! Two years next spring, and you call it a while! And it’s not my fault you lad ran off to play around in Sherwood! Weren’t the lands of Huntingdon good enough?” the man yelled, but he was laughing too.

“Well, “the outlaw-king of Sherwood” does sound better than “son of the Earl of Huntingdon”, don’t you think?” Robert joked back.

By then the others had caught up with Robin. Robin turned to them.

“This is Master Nicholas, the gamekeeper of Huntingdon Castle grounds. He’s served my father as long as I remember. Nicholas, these are Little John, Much, and Tuck.” Then Robin’s smile faded, and a shadow of worry settled on his face. “This is about father, isn’t it? What’s happened? He’s not…”

“Not dead, no. He sent me here to ask for your help”, Nicholas said.

“With what? What is there anymore that I could help him with?” Robin asked. 

“He didn’t tell me exactly why he needed your help, but another nobleman has repeatedly attacked Huntingdon though we have done nothing to provoke such attack. The amount of soldiers your father keeps isn’t enough to turn them back, and–”

“Wait”, Robin interrupted. “Which nobleman?”

“Baron Simon de Belleme.”

Robin had been half-anticipating it. He turned to look at his friends, and saw they weren’t very surprised either.

“It might be a trap”, John cautioned.

“It might be, and it might not be. And even if it is a trap, it’s not one that father has laid, and he’s not in it willingly”, Robert replied. “But precisely because it might be a trap, I’m going alone. I don’t want to risk any of you if it turns out it is a trap.”

None of the others was particularly happy about it, but Robin would not budge from his decision. Before the day was over, Robin and Nicholas were on their way to Huntingdon, while the rest of the outlaws were left waiting in Sherwood.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As always, comments, both criticism (as long as you actually have something to criticize and aren't gonna say just "this sucks" without any further explanation) and everything else are welcome!


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